Archive for February, 2008

The Birmingham Hotel supposedly had its last gig on Saturday, February 16, 2008, one featuring the literary talents of a Canadian punk rock author and the musical talents of Napalm Hearts (for whom said author shouts into a microphone). If correct, this presumably means that the owners are selling. Or maybe not. Time will tell. As for the boycott, presuming Gary, the person responsible for booking the neo-Nazis, is no longer involved in the pub, it would appear to have little more purpose…

What impact, if any, did the boycott have on the decision by the pub’s owners to sell? That’s obviously a very difficult question to answer, and until such time as the sale has been confirmed, probably not worth speculating about. For example, it may be that the current owners are not selling but have decided to make other uses of the premises. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that, from September 23, 2006 — the date of the last neo-Nazi gig at the venue — to today, a little over 18 months later, a total of approximately 11 punk gigs have taken place: on October 7, November 11 and 18, 2006; March 2, April 25, July 7, September 29, November 30 and December 1, 2007; and February 9 and 16, 2008. It’s likely that during this period there were one or two other gigs, which to avoid attention remained unpublicised. Of the two dozen or so bands that played, the most loyal have been Slick 46 (4 gigs) and The Worst (5 gigs); most others, with the exception of The Boots, Bulldog Spirit, Charter 77, Marching Orders, Poverty Bay Goon, Sewer Cider and Wot Rot, played just once.